


The HiccUPs

by parttimefemmefatale (writingramblr)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Coffeeshop AU, F/M, Martha and Jack just make cameo appearences, from a tumblr prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-07 12:03:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1119604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingramblr/pseuds/parttimefemmefatale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>~The Tardis is charging her batteries in London for a few months, so Doctor reluctantly lives domestically and gets a flat as well as a job as a barista. But while working he starts a friendship with a shop girl called Rose. By the time the Tardis is ready to leave the Doctor no longer wants to ~ </p><p>I sort of made it fluffy and sweet, like a good espresso should be, and I invented the HiccUPs, so that's all I own. the rest is RTD, and BBC.</p><p>From a tumblr prompt, though technically a playlist, it had a little summary (above). </p><p>http://thewaywardqueen.tumblr.com/post/62183373024/</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing any Doctor Who fanfic, and of course it is ten/rose, which was just my favorite ship. I loved nine/rose, but obviously ten had more time with her, and a much more tragic ending.  
> It's sort of open ended, but i like to think it has a happy ending.  
> Enjoy!

As far back as the Doctor could remember, his TARDIS had never had the hiccups.

She’d been through some shakes, shivers, and the occasional fever, but never the hiccups.

It was an average, everyday, normal trip, as normal as could be, all things considering, and the Doctor was just cruising past Earth, just at the beginning of the 21st century, when the TARDIS gave a shake.

She wobbled, and she paused in midflight, and then lurched back into flight.

The Doctor was, to put it mildly, concerned.

He patted the console, and tweaked a couple levers, before daring to ask,

“Is everything alright?”

A sudden stop, and start again to the engines was her reply.

When he checked the power levels, he realized all this uneven movement was draining the TARDIS’s power very unusually.

“Maybe we better touch down and take a breather eh?”

When they started moving closer to Earth, the Doctor remembered the time rift in Cardiff; he could easily stay a couple weeks and let the TARDIS recover from whatever was causing her erratic flight pattern.

***

Strolling the streets of modern day England was always a treat. Though the Doctor had been back and forth between the near future, the near past, and the distant of both, he rather liked the 21st century.

Though the streets were littered with garbage much of the day, the air was filled with the faint salty smell of the sea, and the bitter smoky smell of coffee.

Why was that?

He did have a more sensitive nose than most humans, but coffee was standing out to him for some reason.

The Doctor stopped in front of a coffee shop just a few blocks away from where he had parked the TARDIS, and stood still only a moment before pulling open the door, and going inside.

The clank of cups and the noise and bustle of customers filled his ears, even while his senses were overloaded with the multiple flavors of coffee that tainted the air.

He stepped up to the counter, and ordered a plain coffee, no sugar, no milk, simply hot dark brown goodness.

He moved around the coffee shop, and smiled, realizing this was the best of his favorite things.

A shop, with coffee.

He took a seat by the window, so he could easily watch the passersby, and also avoid being in anyone’s way.

He was halfway through his cup of coffee when a flash of blond and pink caught his attention.

It was a girl, with long blond hair, that was threatening to escape her pink headband, and she was speaking in a frantic way into a small communication device.

“Cell phone.” He reminded himself.

That’s what they called them in this century.

The door dinged at her arrival and he found himself watching her as she went up to place her order. The way she walked was fascinating.

Then she turned around, and caught him.

He blushed, at least, as much as a Time Lord could, and quickly looked back out at the busy street. He tightened his hold on his near empty cup, and hoped she wouldn’t be cross with him. It was perfectly normal to keenly observe humans on any visit to Earth.

Except, she wasn’t just any human.

***

Rose Tyler was beyond frustrated. She was beside herself. Her own mother was driving her insane. She couldn’t hardly make it through an hour of work, escape for a decent lunch, much less even a cup of a coffee, without getting a call from her mother.

“Can you believe what your father came up with this morning? He thinks-”

Rose would impatiently listen as her mother ramble on, usually complaining about her father, or how much time he wasted inventing useless things, all the while her energy slowly drained.

“Yes mum. That’s terrible, you’re right. Now listen, I’ve got to go get something to eat, or I’m going to drop dead. You don’t want that! I’m trying to get through the day, and if I die, then who will you be able to complain to?”

The last bit she never voiced, but it was always there, on the tip of her tongue.

When she finally reached her favorite coffee shop, just across the street from her workplace, a simple ladies clothing store with millions of scarves, and hundreds more trinkets, she was about ready to collapse.

The simple aroma of coffee managed to perk her up slightly, and while she stared at the muffins, pastries, and even the sandwiches, she could have sworn she felt someone watching her.

She turned around quickly and spotted a man sitting by the window, with wild brown hair, and most peculiarly, wearing a long cinnamon colored jacket.

It had to be at least 70 degrees outside, but he looked perfectly content.

As soon as she met his gaze he looked away, and she was utterly curious to find out who he was.

She ordered her drink and sandwich, she thought ‘Why not?’ and moved to the end of the queue.

Rose hoped he wouldn’t vanish before she could go over and tease him a bit.

***

The Doctor wasn’t sure if the coffee was warming him up, or if he was actually having a nervous reaction to the blond who was moving towards him.

He shrugged under his coat, and reached up to try and subtly pull his collar away from his neck.

“Hello.”

The Doctor smiled, despite the nerves, or whatever it was making him feel dizzy.

“Hello to you too.”

“I saw you back there.”

A blink and almost imperceptible tilt of his head was his reply before he even opened his mouth,

“What d’you mean?”

Rose grinned wider, and her tongue poked out between her teeth,

“You know what I mean. You were staring at me. How come?”

“Well you’d just come in the door hadn’t you? Set that little bell off. It distracted me from my thoughts.”

Rose nodded, and took a quick sip of her coffee before speaking,

“Sure sure. Deep thoughts then? What about?”

She didn’t even have to ask, but the Doctor shifted over slightly to give her room to sit down beside him, and he found himself trying to think of how to tell her that he was diagnosing his time travel machine.

There wasn’t an easy way. She probably wouldn’t believe him anyway.

“I was just thinking, I might like to work here.”

Rose cocked a dark blond brow at him,

“Oh yeah? So you could stare at me and get paid for it?”

The Doctor was confused, and yet somehow enchanted by her.

“I suppose so, yeah.”

***

And so it happened. Eventually The Doctor realized whatever had inflicted his TARDIS was going to take more than a re-charge to fix. She would need a month, maybe more, to completely recover.

He managed to get a job at the coffee shop, to his delight and even found a small flat to stay in. He knew it wouldn’t help if he was spending all his time at the TARDIS when not at work. She needed her space.

The blond girl from the shop across the street had finally introduced herself, after about the third time they had run into each other.

She’d grinned that cheeky grin, and stuck out her hand boldly,

“Rose Tyler.”

The Doctor had taken her hand, gripped it firmly, but gently,

“John Smith.”

It was his usually go to name, and it didn’t even faze her.

“That’s not your real name. I don’t believe it. Unless you’re a secret agent, or your parents were the most uncreative ones on Earth.”

He didn’t bother correcting her, but he loved that she wasn’t fooled.

“Okay, yeah. You’re right. I’m a secret agent, of sorts. But that’s what I go by.”

Rose frowned, just for a moment, before she shrugged,

“Alright then _John,_ if that’s how you want to play it.”

The Doctor grinned, and she laughed at his blatant imitation of her.

“Yep.” He popped the ‘p’ and when he watched her cross the street that day, she turned back before going inside, and waved at him.

She was quite the girl, Rose Tyler.

***

By the time Rose had become one of ‘John’s regulars, every single co-worker of his was nudging him, and whispering that he needed to ask her out.

“Ask her out? Why would I? She’s caused no trouble.”

The co-worker of that day who was pestering him, named Martha, rolled her eyes.

“I mean on a date silly. She’s clearly got feelings for you. The way she looks at you when you can’t see her.”

Martha sighed impatiently and shook her head.

The Doctor wasn’t blind, he knew that Martha’s unbound enthusiasm stemmed from the fact she rather fancied him too.

He knew he shouldn’t have reached over to brush the stray whipped cream off her cheek when he made his first disastrous drink, on day two of his job as barista.

He’d caught _her_ staring at him on more than one occasion, but it was too late.

She was right.

He was falling for Rose, and according to Martha, she liked him back.

“Well, how should I do it?”

Martha shrugged,

“What does she like? Besides you.” A cheeky grin came along with that remark, and the Doctor decided he liked her, despite the fact he would end up breaking her heart if and when he _did_ go out with Rose.

“I dunno. I’ve never asked. We’ve never talked about it. Besides traveling, which is _certainly_ something I like, I haven’t a clue.”

Martha rolled her eyes again at him,

“That’s the problem with you. Not just you, but men in general. You need to find out what she likes! What you could do to make her day special. Dinner and a movie is too cliché. Think picnics, a walk in the park. Something with dancing maybe?”

The Doctor liked that idea, he’d done a little bit of dancing the last time he’d been on Earth, and it had been good fun.

“Alright, I will. Thanks for your constant nagging.”

He nudged her  and bumped her hips with his until she couldn’t keep from laughing.

“Okay go on you git. Go woo your fair maiden.”

The Doctor chuckled at that,

“Yes ma’am.”


	2. Chapter 2

When Rose’s cell phone began ringing, she sighed in annoyance and flipped it open.

“Yes mum what is it now?”

“’Ello! It’s me, John.”

Rose gasped and then winced. She had sounded perfectly awful just then. She’d completely forgotten she had given John her number the week previous.

“Hey, how’s it going? Shouldn’t you be working?”

She had checked the time on her phone, and it was about 4:30. John usually didn’t get off work til 6pm.

“Nah, Martha kicked me out early. I wanted to ask you something.”

Rose felt her cheeks heat up,

“Yes? What is it?”

“What do you like?”

She giggled and shrugged, before remembering he couldn’t see her.

“I dunno. Could you be more specific?”

The Doctor muttered a curse, of course he could, and he was acting like an utter idiot,

“Yes ah, I mean, what do you like to do? For fun.”

Rose stopped short in her tracks, they’d talked about traveling, and she’d mentioned Paris and Barcelona were on her bucket list to visit, but never had they chatted about anything realistic.

“I like to sleep, or shop.”

The Doctor exhaled,

“Yes yes. I mean if you could do anything, what would you do, to make you happiest?”

Rose blinked,

“I guess I would ask you out, since you seem to be so daft you can’t see that’s what I want. I like spending time with you. I like talking to you. Someday, I want to see the world with you. Okay?”

Rose held her breath, hoping she hadn’t sounded nearly as angry as she felt, but something about John just drove her mad. He was so oblivious sometimes.

A cough sounded on the other end of the line, before the Doctor could reply,

“Well, ah yes. That’s sort of what I was leading up to. I did it very badly though, didn’t I? Rose Tyler, would you—”

***

Rose pulled the phone away from her head as a short burst of static filled the ear piece, and she lost all contact with John.

“Damn reception.”

She tapped and smacked the phone against her hand, but nothing changed.

She glanced at the clock on her wall, if John was off work, maybe he would be at home by now. She had a rough idea of where his flat was, though he had avoided telling her outright. Perhaps he had feared she would sneak into his apartment and jump his bones in the middle of the night.

No wait. That was _her_ fantasy. If only.

***

The Doctor listened intently, as the TARDIS had intercepted his call with Rose.

 She was ready, healed up, and eager to travel again.

But was he?

He’d just been about to take a final big step in his growing friendship with Rose. He couldn’t leave now!

It was amazing how fast they’d grown together. Every time he saw her, after their first meeting, she’d beam at him, and he’d run to her and hug her tightly. As if he hadn’t seen her in ages.

After the last few months of steadily spending time with each other, he couldn’t believe it had actually taken him this long to do something.

If he hadn’t gotten stuck on Earth, if the TARDIS hadn’t got the hiccups, or what he thought of them as, the hiccUPs, he’d probably never have met Rose.

He paced around his flat until he feared he might ruin the carpet.

What was he going to do?

A sharp knock sounded on his door, startling him from his mumblings and musings, and he practically ran to the door, ripping it open in his haste.

“Rose!”

His favorite blond haired shop girl beamed at him,

“What happened to your phone John?”

The Doctor shuffled his feet; he’d been so caught up with indecision he hadn’t thought to phone her back. But more important was, how did she know where he lived?

He voiced the query, and she shrugged,

“I just figured you’d want to be close by work, considering how you’re so skinny, you must have lived very far from your last job, and since you’re relatively new in town, this would be the place.”

The Doctor grinned at her, finally brought out from his serious stupor by her adorable logic.

“You are so clever. Forgive me for not calling you back. I’ve had some, ah, news.”

Rose’s eyebrows lifted, nearly disappearing into her bangs. Something she’d done within the last week, and he’d forgotten to say something. ‘Idiot!’ he thought furiously, even as she spoke to him, and he realized he had missed it.

“Sorry, what?”

Rose sighed impatiently,

“I just said what news?”

The Doctor stroked his chin, and hemmed and hawed a minute before speaking,

“I’ve gotten a call. I’ve got to be leaving soon. But I do want to take you somewhere, before I go.”

Rose felt her insides drop to near her toes. He was leaving? But he couldn’t. He’d just gotten here.

“What?”

“Rose, I’m sorry. But I wasn’t actually planning to stay here this long. I don’t usually stay in one place very long. It’s complicated.”

He winced at the most overused phrase, and he could almost see the hurt in her eyes.

“What are you saying?”

“It’s not today. Nor tomorrow. I have a bit of time.”

Rose crossed her arms, and hugged herself, hoping she didn’t look as miserable as she felt.

“Where will you be going? Couldn’t you write?”

The Doctor smiled,

“I wish I could. But it could be as far as Mars, or as close as London. Perhaps not Mars, it’s a bit hot there.”

Rose frowned in confusion, and The Doctor realized he needed to tread cautiously. He hadn’t told her a thing about who he was, or where he was really from. In fact, he was simply grateful that in all the times they had hugged, she had never noticed the extra beats in his chest.

Rose had been seconds from doing just that, throwing caution to the winds and embracing him, hoping it would convince him to stay. But she had to be strong. Mum always said, play hard to get.

“Well, whatever. I hope you find what you’re looking for there.”

She had turned away, feeling her heart break with every step, while the Doctor stood still, frozen, and confused.

“Wait, where are you going?”

Rose sighed, and he could see from the way her shoulders rose and fell, she was not pleased with him.

“I’m going to get a drink. A real one. I hope you have a good trip.”

He didn’t want to stop her, and risk getting slapped. She threatened those a lot, even if it was just over the last bit of milk for her coffee at the shop.

The Doctor held back, stayed still, and said nothing.

This would not be the last time he saw her.


	3. Chapter 3

The light danced off of the whiskey in her glass. She watched it with a lazy half lidded gaze, and tried to pretend she wasn’t only here to drown her sorrows. She’d never had to drown her sorrows. It was appalling. She was only 23 years old, and had fallen in love with a man who she wasn’t even sure she knew his real name.

He was no secret agent.

He was a mystery though. Whenever she had caught a good look at him, she could have sworn he acted as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. His eyes looked sad and lost, until they looked at her, and they lit up with the light of a thousand suns.

The glass in her hand grew blurry, and she realized to her horror she had begun to cry. In public. Not her most glamorous moment.

“Are you alright miss?”

A smooth voice asked, and she looked up at the bartender, a rather handsome man, with a nametag of four letters, “Jack.”

She waved a hand about, as if swatting an invisible fly,

“Yeah I’m fine. Thanks for asking. I could use a refill though.”

Before Jack could reach for her glass, she felt a hand on her shoulder,

“Put it on my tab.”

That voice. The one she’d been trying to forget. So much for the last few glasses of whiskey.

“What do you want?”

The Doctor took a seat beside her, and laced his fingers together, before meeting her gaze,

“I wanted to ask you if you’d like to come with me. You want to travel right? I can help with that.”

Rose felt the anger melt away, and her veins felt as if they were filled with liquid honey and light, as she smiled slowly at him,

“Oh yeah? What if I told you to take me to Paris? Tonight.”

Her gaze turned sober for just an instant, and he could see her blue eyes darken to indigo. She was not in a joking mood.

The Doctor was not deterred,

“I could do that. Are you ready?”

Rose laughed, a light bubbly sound in her drunken haze,

“What, you’ve got your own private plane? What on earth were you working in a coffee shop for if you could afford that?”

The Doctor smiled,

“Not exactly. But I have a ship.”

Rose’s eyes widened,

“Did you want to sail to Paris? I don’t think that will work.”

The Doctor reached over, gently pulling her hand away from her empty glass, to hold it between both of his,

“Come with me. Please.”

Rose lost all will to argue when he looked at her like that, and held her like he did. He looked at her like a blind man seeing for the first time. Two single tears fell down her cheeks before she could stop them.

“Alright.”

 

Jack watched as they nearly ran out the door of the bar and smiled. It was nice to see two people in love.

***

When The Doctor stopped in front of the TARDIS, Rose looked understandably, confused.

“What’s this? ‘Police Box’? Did you need police to help get your ship into the water?”

She giggled, and The Doctor realized just how drunk she was.

“Ah, no. I hate to go through all this, and have to tell you again in the morning, but perhaps it will make more sense now.”

Rose stepped closer to him, nearly pressing him against the front door of the TARDIS, and he hoped that she would be distracted enough not to notice how his hearts were beating into overdrive.

“Why don’t we slip inside, and—”

The Doctor managed to slip the key in the lock and open the door before Rose could finish her suggestion, which he was sure was going to end in something rather suggestive.

When Rose had gotten her bearings, and taken a look around, she knew she had drunk too much.

“It’s huge! It’s like an aquarium.”

It was true, the shimmering blue and green and gold lights did remind one of sunlight through sea water, but the Doctor was far more interested in watching Rose.

Her reaction was so much different than he had expected.

She looked in awe, and not angry at all.

“It’s my ship.”

Rose giggled again,

“How do you sail with this?”

“Oh I don’t. It’s not for water. It’s a _space_ ship, to be more precise.”

Rose looked at him, suddenly sober and some reason returning,

“What are you on about? There’s no such thing.”

The Doctor walked over and patted the controls, and then made his way to her side, where she stood, still gazing around with her mouth open.

“Good thing we aren’t in space, you’d catch things I doubt you’d want to kiss in there.”

He gently lifted her chin, and she closed her mouth, focusing on him, before realizing what he had said.

“Kiss?”

The Doctor grinned,

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Rose had about a split second before his lips were on hers, and as her eyes felt shut, she melted into his arms.

It was a hug, like any others they’d shared, but this time, he didn’t hold back. He didn’t try to keep her from completely touching him, he held her close. He couldn’t get enough of her, her hair under his fingers, her mouth under his lips. She was so perfect, his Rose. He wouldn’t tell her until much later, but he loved her.

He’d traveled through all of time and space, and never met anyone like her.

When they finally separated, Rose couldn’t exactly remember what he’d been saying before the kiss.

“So, would you like to see Paris at sunrise?”

Rose blinked sleepily, before nodding,

“Yes please John.”

The Doctor grinned at her,

“You were right. That’s not my real name. You can call me the Doctor if you’d like. It’s a lot more accurate.”

Rose frowned a bit, and then shrugged,

“Alright Doctor. Take me away into space.”

He let go of her just a bit and moved away to start the engines, only keeping hold of her hand.

“Next stop, Paris!”

What he didn’t say was it would be nearly 300 years in the future. The sun had looked so magnificent that year.

***

When Rose looked back on her first trip in the TARDIS, she had wished she’d been a little more awake for it, but when she had been able to drink real French coffee and a fresh croissant first thing after watching the sunrise, with the Doctor at her side, she couldn’t really complain.

*

**END**


End file.
